Lavrov tells Kerry Russia is backing US proposal on Aleppo

December 8, 2016

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the beginning of his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Hamburg on Wednesday that Russia supports the proposal for eastern Aleppo the US put forward on December 2.

I confirm the support to the US initiative of December 2,” Lavrov said, answering a US reporter’s question if Russia supported the US proposal for truce in Aleppo.

On December 2, Kerry submitted a proposal for the militants’ departure from the city. Lavrov noted at the time that the US initiative was in line with the Russian stance. On December 5, the US withdrew this proposal but a new one would give a holdout for militants to leave eastern Aleppo, Lavrov is convinced. The Russian foreign minister noted that the proposal envisaged routes and deadlines for militants’ departure from eastern Aleppo. The truce will follow only after these issues have been agreed.